Republicans Hold On to a Myth to Hold On to Power.

[elleng]

'Given the increased political power Republicans won in the last elections, from Washington to red-state legislatures, voters might expect the party to feel that the nation’s voting procedures are working quite well. Yet this is far from the case, as triumphant Republicans are using their enhanced clout to continue their campaign playing up the mythical threat that voter fraud abounds in the nation.

The newest and loudest zealot in this cause is, of course, President Trump, with his scurrilous claim that millions of illegal ballots cost him a popular vote majority. His baseless claim only encourages the renewed efforts at voter suppression reported to be underway in a score of Republican-dominated statehouses intent on making it harder for citizens to register or vote.

Mr. Trump is trying to sell the false idea that he was fraudulently denied a clear mandate. Republican state legislators, in turn, are no more convincing but just as cynical in insisting that elaborate new ballot protections are needed — protections that effectively target poor people, minorities and students, who tend to favor Democratic candidates.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/11/opinion/republicans-hold-on-to-a-myth-to-hold-on-to-power.html?

[guillaumeb]

1. Demographics are workign against the GOP.

So one way to compensate for this inevitable shift is to stop as many of the undesirables as possible from voting. One way to do this is disenfranchisement due to prior felony conviction.

[mr_lebowski]

2. I'd be willing to bet that ex-cons who actually vote are only slightly pro-Dem overall if at all

Most felons are pretty disenfranchised from society and unlikely to vote anyway ... mostly these 'felon purges' are used to trim down the total # of eligible voters PERIOD, by using dubious 'name-matching' processes, focusing on 'ethnic sounding' names.

So if 'Juan Gonzalez' has a felony conviction they do no actual PROPER matching of convict to name, they just ban basically every Juan Gonzalez from voting ... CAN'T BE TOO CAREFUL, ya know!

Of course, with a 'Joe Smith', they'll make sure they have the correct middle initial, DOB, etc. But they WON'T ... with a Juan Gonzalez or a Tyrone Washington.

And the average racist GOPper grunt slurps that whole idea up like Mothers Milk ... Pigs that they are ...

[guillaumeb]

3. Thank Kris Kobach for that tactic.

And expect the GOP to make heavier use of it between now and the 2018 elections.